Jiang Meets with US Clinton

President Jiang Zemin met with U.S. President Bill Clinton

President Jiang Zemin met with US President Bill Clinton September 8 in New York and exchanged with him views over the bilateral relations and major regional and world issues of common concern, a Chinese official said.

President Jiang, who is in New York to attend the UN Millennium summit, said that China and the United States, as the two big powers in the world, have born the common historical responsibility for the cause of promoting world peace and development.

He said that in the past years the general trend of the Sino-US ties, though experiencing ups and downs, have steadily moved forward. Facts have proven that to keep and develop a healthy and steady relationship between the two nations is not only in the fundamental interests of both peoples, but also beneficial to the peace, stability and development in the Asian-Pacific region and the world as a whole, Jiang added.

President Jiang pointed out that at the turn of the century, the governments and leaders of the two countries should stand ascending and firmly hold the general situation of the bilateral ties.

The two sides should, on the basis of the three Sino-US joint communiques, expand exchanges and cooperation and appropriately handle the differences and Taiwan issue in particular so as to keep the Sino-US relations developing forward healthily, steadily and continuously in the new century, which is beneficial to the peace, stability, development and prosperity of the world, the Chinese president said.

President Clinton said that the United States and China have had a good cooperation over the past eight years since he took office, and leaders of the two nations have personally pushed forward the improvement and development of the bilateral ties, increased exchanges and made their efforts in winning the support of their people for developing the bilateral relations.

Clinton also said that the US side sincerely hoped that the two nations would realize true cooperation and China would succeed in its economic and social construction.

President Jiang elaborate China's principle position on the Taiwan issue, saying that "we have said many times as long as the Taiwan authorities recognize the one China principle, the contacts and dialogues between the two sides across the straits can be restored, leader of Taiwan can come to the mainland or we could go to Taiwan for talks and anything can be discussed."

The US president said that his country would continue to abide by the one-China policy, hoping that the Taiwan issue could be solved peacefully.

On the question of US permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) with China, Jiang said that an early realization of PNTR is beneficial to the expansion of economic and trade cooperation between the two nations and to the long-term healthy and steady development of bilateral relations as well, which benefits the two sides.